Chapter 41: Je 3ui Salam (A Third Person)

From the moment that I found myself stuck in this river just a few feet away from the local market almost 2 decades ago, I had never come back here since that day. The day that marked the rest of my life as a reoccurring nightmare that I had to survive started with this very river which my brother pushed me into, only for him to never come out of here alive again. But how on earth did Yeon come here? As far as I could remember, neither myself nor her brother ever brought her here, not even once. How did she find this place? Who led her here? But before I could get any answers, the senseless and hysterical concubine tried to do every thing she could to prevent me from saving Yeon who kept flapping her arms haplessly in the water. She didn't know how to swim, and she was going to meet the same end as my unfortunate brother if I didn't save her. I didn't even have to recall the incident as I struggled to free myself of the concubine and fell into the water myself right next to where Yeon was. And I tried my best to reach out for her, but once my arms hit the water they became paralysed with fear all over again. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe and I was too scared to even open my eyes again, lest I saw the shadow of my brother floating around somewhere near me. But it was far too late for that, I could already hear the conversation that we had that day replaying so loudly in my mind that I was almost convinced that it was happening right in front of me. Min-ho was the one stubbornly insisted that we go into the water, he was the one who practically pushed me in...and he was the one who tried to kill me in the water. And there wasn't a single soul who knew that apart from me. Everyone shamed me for leaving Min-Ho behind, but nobody knew how he kept pulling and dragging me down beneath him so that he could escape the strong currents without me. What else could I do but to fight for my own survival? But in all honesty...I couldn't remember how I got out of the water. I could only assume that we both fought to death when we both could have just separated from each other and both come up at the same time, but even in a perilous situation like that, everything was a game and a competition to my bother.

I was beginning to loose air and I had to come up sooner or later, but I still could not move no matter how much I screamed and pleaded to myself mentally. So I had no choice but to open my eyes and hope that somebody had noticed us falling in and save us. But once again, I was left on my own to fend for myself. I was going to die here today without accomplishing anything; leaving Yeon as a hostage in my father's home and Hwi on a useless mission to save his sister when I knew my father would most likely kill them both in the end. Dal was going to have to look out for Yeon and as for Hwi...I could only hope that Yeon gained her memories sooner or later so she could reunite with him, and forgive me if she possibly could.

I could feel my brother's presence in the water and I knew that he would come for me sooner or later. So I could only close my eyes once again and think of the only woman that my heart had ever gone out to, even if she didn't want it. The prettiest, boldest and most intelligent woman that I had ever come across. I hadn't seen her for so long...and I still couldn't see her. As soon as I closed my eyes, all I could reminisce about was the short amount of time that I had spent with Yeon instead; how she followed me everywhere, her brief yet genuine interactions with me and how she cooked for me against her will and still gave me the warmest service that I could have ever asked for. She helped me over and over again and never asked me for anything in return, she had a very gentle temperament despite her bold methods, and her smile could just warm up an entire household...

I wanted to see her in that moment, and I wanted it badly enough to open my eyes again and start moving my hands and legs. I had just started regaining my senses again when I heard something moving into the water and coming close towards me every second. And it was the very last person that I expected to see. I thought she couldn't swim, and yet here she was moving effortlessly in the water and she was coming straight at me. Her dark hair that kept floating around her pale skin just seemed to make her so much more alluring to the point where I could only stare at her as she did everything she could to try and save me when I was the one who was supposed to save her. But something else was going on between us, and it happened as soon as Yeon reached out for me. After all of these years, I could not remember how I got out of the water the first time, but looking at Yeon swimming to me how she was was starting to feel so familiar to me. Was there...was there somebody with us? In the water? With myself and my brother? Who exactly saved me that day?

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I have no idea why he was just staring at me with such a weird expression on his face, but we were both loosing air and he just wouldn't move, no matter how much I tugged and pulled at him until I had no choice but to break away from him for a few seconds to get some help. There was nobody around to help us at all in spite of the concubine screaming at the top of her lungs. My clothes were far to big to allow me to swim properly and I was struggling so much to even get to Seon-Ho, so I had no choice but to grab the hairpin that I had in my hair and stab him in his arm to pull him back to his senses and bring him back up to the water's surface before we both drowned. And luckily for me, Dal seemed to arrive just on time to help pull us both out of the water with a carriage waiting for us. But even he had the same strange look on his face as Seon-Ho did and I instantly felt my heart plummet down to my feet in fear, especially when Seon-Ho passed out as soon as he opened his eyes again but he still looked at me in that strange way and he even managed to grab my arm and he refused to let go, even in that state. Myself and Dal sat in complete silence whilst then concubine kept on weeping as loudly as possible as if she wasn't responsible for what had just happened to all of us due to her nonsensical hysteria. "What are you doing Yeon?" "I want to sit with the driver outside, I cannot breathe here properly." "Here, take a towel and cover yourself with it. And do not leave this carriage, it isn't like the young master will let you leave anyways." "But..." "Two people driving the carriage can make it unbalanced. Do not cause us anymore inconvenience." "Are you seriously blaming this incident on me?" "You ran out of the manor knowing full well that he would chase you." "How was I supposed to know that he would? Everyone went inside the main home, I made sure of it before I left." "She is right, the Young Master came for me!" "Who on earth are you trying to convince? Us or yourself? And as for you Yeon, stop acting so innocent." "He is going to bleed out through his arm before we even get home at this rate!" "And who's fault is that?" "How was I supposed to know that he freezes in the water? We aren't that close!" "And yet he spends every single waking moment watching you..." "what was that? What did you just say? If yo won't tell me, just let me help the driver run faster so we can get the Young Master treated!" "Well well, you stab him one minute and you rush to get him treated the next, you really are an interesting woman after all." "What is your problem? Why are you tearing into me instead of being worried for your Master like I am?" "My Master?" "Of course, who else is he to you?" I really did not like the way he was looking at me, but it was clear that he was hiding something. But now was not the time to get into that. And not only that, he seemed to be mocking the relationship that I had with the young master, a little too much it seemed.

"I do not know or care what you think about me, but the Young Master is my priority. And as soon as we rid ourselves of this concubine, then the sooner that he can recover in peace." "What are you talking about! Do not think that you or anyone else can get rid of me!" "Do you really care about him that much?" "He saved me, of course I care about him. What? Why are you scoffing like that?" "Guilt makes a man do crazy things, that is all." "Guilt? What to you mean? What is going on? Are you saying that he is guilty...for me?" "It was a joke, relax." "Dal?" "You are giving me a headache girl, just keep quiet until we arrive back at the Nam manor." "I already know that you do not care about me, so you can drop the act now and just rest. So stop treating me so viciously, it isn't like I will ever be afraid of you." "Is that so? So you do not fear anyone at all?" "Why do I need to fear anyone when I have the Young Master to protect me?" "Do you really think he will defend you? To the end?" "Of course he will, and I will do the same thing for him!" I had no idea why I was furiously defending him, it seemed to be coming from pure instinct before I even had the time to think of anything to say otherwise. "Shut up Dal, stop...provoking her..." "You may be on your last breathe and you still defend her." "Leave him alone and get us to a pharmacy quicker!" I knew there was something wrong with this man who seemed to get a kick out of controlling Seon-Ho as much as his father did, but that would come to an end soon and I would make sure of it some way or another. How could I expect any answers from Seon-Ho when he was being controlled from every angle possible? At work, at home and even in his perusal life. Dal had become his Master's shadow and he even blocked my visits to him on occasion.

"Min-Ho...Min-Ho..." "It is his brother." "Excuse me?" "Min-Ho, that is his brother's name." Min-Ho? That was the name of Nam-Jeon's oldest son? Then what about Hwi? Who was that person who's mere name could reduce a grown man like Seon-Ho to tears like he did? Hwi...Hwi...was this person related to me? Was that the person that the concubine mentioned to me? Who was Hwi? Any why did nobody mention him at all? Especially around me?